Freshmen became eligible to play varsity ball for the
1972–73 season. It was becoming a young man's game, all right. The year
before, the pros had grabbed undergrads like Julius Erving, George McGinnis,
Johnny Neumann and Jim Chones. The ABA's N.Y. Nets had snatched Chones from
Marquette just as the unbeaten Warriors were preparing for the NCAAs (they went
nowhere without him).

Now the colleges were restless to recruit youngsters. North
Carolina State was so excited about landing freshman David Thompson that the
NCAA put the Wolfpack on probation for using unapproved recruiting methods. With
Thompson in the line-up, N.C. State went 27–0 and finished the regular season
ranked No.2, but couldn't go to the NCAAs.

UCLA? The Bruins went 30–0, stretched their winning
streak to a record 75 straight, won their seventh straight NCAA title in a
breeze, and Bill Walton and John Wooden were everybody's Player and Coach of the
Year again. Walton even became the first basketball player since Bill Bradley to
win the Sullivan Award as the nation's best amateur athlete.

No.4 Providence, led by Ernie DiGregorio, became the first
New England team to reach the Final Four since Holy Cross (and Bob Cousy) did it
in 1948. The Friars placed fourth.

Rules change

Free throw on first six common
fouls of a half on each team is eliminated. Freshman made eligible for
varsity play.

Final AP Top 20 (Writers' poll taken before tournament).

Before
Tourns

Head
Coach

Final
Record

1

UCLA

26–0

John Wooden

30–0

2

North Carolina St.

27–0

Norm Sloan

same

3

Long Beach St.

24–2

Jerry Tarkanian

26–3

4

Providence

24–2

Dave Gavitt

27–4

5

Marquette

23–3

Al McGuire

25–4

6

Indiana

19–5

Bobby Knight

22–6

7

SW Louisiana

23–2

Beryl Shipley

24–5

8

Maryland

22–6

Lefty Driesell

23–7

9

Kansas St.

22–4

Jack Hartman

23–5

10

Minnesota

20–4

Bill Musselman

21–5

11

North Carolina

22–7

Dean Smith

25–8

12

Memphis St.

21–5

Gene Bartow

24–6

13

Houston

23–3

Guy Lewis

23–4

14

Syracuse

22–4

Roy Danforth

24–5

15

Missouri

21–5

Norm Stewart

21–6

16

Arizona St.

18–7

Ned Wulk

19–9

17

Kentucky

19–7

Joe B. Hall

20–8

18

Penn

20–5

Chuck Daly

21–7

19

Austin Peay

21–5

Lake Kelly

22–7

20

San Francisco

22–4

Bob Gaillard

23–5

*North Carolina State was ineligible for NCAA
tournament for improper methods used in recruiting David Thompson.Note:
UCLA won the NCAAs and unranked Virginia Tech (18–5, Don DeVoe, 22–5) won
the NIT.

Many who considered the UCLA teams built around Lew Alcindor to be the most
formidable in college basketball history suddenly were having second thoughts.
The reason was another UCLA aggregation that revolved around another consensus
All-America center, Bill Walton.

This team appeared unbeatable -- and had the record to prove it.

The mark for consecutive victories had been established by San Francisco,
beginning in the Bill Russell era and continuing five games into the first
season after his departure. The Dons had won 60 games in succession and no team
since, not even Alcindor's Bruins, seriously had threatened it. Until now.

This UCLA team would get the opportunity to equal and perhaps surpass the
record at midseason on the road against two noteworthy opponents. First up was
Loyola of Chicago, which had hosted San Francisco when the Dons won their 60th
consecutive game in 1956. Two days later, UCLA was scheduled to play Notre Dame,
the last team to beat the Bruins two years earlier at South Bend, Ind.

Without a struggle, UCLA tied the record by beating Loyola, 87-73, and
increased it to 61 by routing Notre Dame, 82-63. The streak continued as the
Bruins advanced to the NCAA Tournament, which a team coached by John Wooden had
won the previous six years. No one, Wooden included, expressed reservations
about a seventh consecutive title.

"There are two leagues in college basketball," New Mexico coach
Norm Ellenberger noted as the quartet of national finalists gathered in St.
Louis, "and one contains only UCLA."

Dave Gavitt, whose Providence team qualified for the Final Four by winning
the East Regional, recalled receiving a number of letters before the Friars met
the Bruins in the regular season.

"One letter listed 22 different things a rival coach should know about
UCLA," said Gavitt, whose team suffered a 101-77 thrashing in becoming the
Bruins' 59th consecutive victim, "and all of them were terrifying."

To the credit of Indiana, UCLA's semifinal opponent at the St. Louis Arena,
it was not terrified. The Hoosiers, who won the Mideast Regional in only their
second season under coach Bob Knight, even had the effrontery to take an 18-13
lead in the early minutes.

It was just the sort of slap in the face the Bruins needed.

Between that moment and the end of the first half, UCLA outscored Indiana,
27-4, including a run of 18 unanswered points. The Bruins eventually pushed the
lead to 46-24 and then 54-34 before suddenly losing inspiration in the second
half.

"It takes some of the intensity out of the game when you're up by 20
points," senior guard Larry Hollyfield said. "They made a run at us
and caught us napping."

Indeed, the Hoosiers scored 17 consecutive points, awakening UCLA and the
crowd in the process. Wooden was concerned enough to rush Walton back into the
game after he had rested him with four personal fouls for two minutes. Starting
forwards Keith Wilkes (a consensus All-American) and Larry Farmer also were in
foul trouble, and the Bruins needed to assert themselves in the frontcourt.

Walton did just that. He drew a fourth foul on Indiana star Steve Downing
and, shortly thereafter, a fifth. Though the Hoosiers edged within 57-55 with
5:51 left, the Bruins sped away in the final minutes for a 70-59 victory.

"Part of it was Walton," Indiana forward John Fitter said,
"and part of it was that we had come back so far, so fast that we just
exhausted ourselves."

In the other semifinal, it appeared Providence was about to earn itself a
rematch against UCLA when the Friars were victimized by a costly injury. With
consensus All-America point guard Ernie DiGregorio popping long jump shots and
throwing dazzling passes from all angles, Providence raced to a 24-16 lead over
Memphis State, the Midwest Regional winner. But then Marvin Barnes, the Friars'
6-8 center, went up for a rebound and took his team's hopes with him to the
floor.

Barnes had to leave the game with a dislocated right kneecap, surrendering
the backboards to Memphis State's outstanding frontcourt tandem of Larry Kenon
and Ronnie Robinson. Still, the Friars hung on. Spurred by DiGregorio, forward
Fran Costello and guard Kevin Stacom, they took a 49-40 advantage into the
second half and, after being overtaken at 57-55, opened a 69-62 lead midway
through the final period.

In time, however, the smaller team was worn down.

DiGregorio's shooting touch deserted him and the Tigers forged ahead a second
time. With his team trailing, 80-75, Barnes got the permission of the team
doctor to play and all but begged Gavitt for one more chance. He returned to the
game with 5:51 left and Providence cut the deficit to 85-84 before yielding,
98-85.

"We did it in the second half when it counted," said Larry Finch,
the Memphis State guard whose 21 points complemented the 24 by Robinson and 28
by Kenon. "Everybody keeps asking me how much losing Barnes meant to
Providence. All I know is that we don't think that way.

"We were down with him in there and without him in there, and we came
back playing the basketball we've played all year."

Still, the overpowering impression of the afternoon was expressed by
DiGregorio.

"With Marvin, we win," said DiGregorio, the game's high scorer with
32 points. "It's as simple as that."

Oddly enough, the Friars wouldn't even have been playing Memphis State if not
for a change in tournament format that year. Ever since the first tournament in
1939, the final had paired an East team against one from the West. But in 1973,
the NCAA began a system of rotating regional matchups in the Final Four.

The alignment in the first season under the system pitted East vs. Midwest in
one semifinal pairing of regional champs and Mideast vs. West in the other. As a
result, Providence played Memphis State in the semifinals rather than the
Mideast winner (in this case, Indiana), which previously had met the East
champion for the right to advance to the championship game.

All of this probably was irrelevant in 1973 because any team hoping to win
the national title ultimately would have to answer to UCLA. The Bruins might not
have been overwhelming against Indiana, but they were the class of college
basketball.

"That's an awesome team," Indiana's John Ritter said. "You
know the Yankees were awesome like that a few years back. Even if we'd beaten
them, they'd still be the best."

The Bruins had one more game in which to prove they were the best in 1973, if
not the best of all time, and they made the most of it. Before 19,301, they
walloped an outstanding Memphis State team, thanks in large measure to the
greatest individual performance in championship-game history.

Walton dominated the game from start to finish.

Walton made 21 of his 22 field-goal attempts and added two free throws for 44
points, a championship-game record. He also had 13 rebounds in UCLA's 87-66
triumph.

Memphis State was able to draw close and remain competitive only when Walton
was in foul trouble. His first 22 points led the Bruins to a 37-30 lead after
15:30. A few seconds later he drew his third personal foul and took a seat on
the bench. The Tigers took the opportunity to create a 39-39 halftime tie.
Thirty of Memphis State's 39 points were credited to Finch and Kenon.

The Tigers edged in front, 41-39, at the start of the second half, but that
represented their final lead. Walton scored three consecutive baskets, two on
lob passes from guard Greg Lee, and UCLA built a 57-47 advantage. Even when
Walton committed his fourth foul and backed off slightly with the Tigers down
61-55, Memphis State could not catch up.

The Bruins pushed the lead to 73-62 and went to their delay game with 5:42
remaining. Even though Walton was forced to the sidelines with a sprained ankle
three minutes later, Memphis State was helpless to prevent UCLA's 75th
consecutive victory and its seventh NCAA title in succession.

Despite the fact he had enjoyed an extraordinary game in the national
spotlight, Walton declined interviews. Beset by questions about lucrative
professional offers and his involvement in peace protests on the UCLA campus,
the junior wanted only to be left alone. With the season officially over, he
decided he had to answer to no one.

"I'm not talking because the season is over," Walton told one
reporter. "You don't see me frowning. You see how I'm happy we won and that
it's over. But it's just that I'm no longer No. 32 on the basketball court. I
can be Joe Walton now if I want to be.

"And I'm not talking because I don't want to."

What he had demonstrated on the court, of course, was enough to ensure him a
prominent place in history. It even moved Wooden, a man of modest words, to
conclude what many had suspected, "I'd have to say this is my best team
ever," the coach said.